


A RWBY Divergence.

by Jasiono



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blake doesn't run, Cinder goes mad, Cinder is biggest bad, F/F, JNPR comes too, Multi, No Maidens, No Relics, No Salem, No Sun, Ozpin survives, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Pyrrha Survives, Pyrrha's a lesbian, Raven cares, Roman Survives, Taiyang has 4 daughters, Weiss stays, not quite slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-09 07:23:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13476558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasiono/pseuds/Jasiono
Summary: I wasn't happy with the way RWBY's become, so I decided to substitute it with my own. A quick summary. No Maidens, No Salem. Adding something called "The Dust Of Man" to justify Cinder's strength, and why everything with Pyrrha and Ozpin happened. Both Ozpin and Pyrrha survive, but the relationship between Pyrrha and Jaune doesn't. Some shipping fulfillment for me. Ren and Nora aren't happening. I liked them as friends, or even siblings. What's so wrong with that.Finally, this isn't a story about charging headlong into prophecies. This is a story about the rebuilding of Beacon, the training of Huntress's, and team RWBY's future as hunters of Grim.





	1. Healing; Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Healing hurts. It takes time. Expect tears. Theirs. Maybe yours. I don't know.

Ruby remembered it all going white. Ozpin and Pyrrha, on the ground. Cinder, aiming a hand bristling with fire at both of them. In the distance, a dragon flying towards them. At that moment, it all became too much. The man who supposedly had his leg broken by her sister beating her down, watching one of her best friends become dismembered at the hands of someone else she cared about, finding one teammate with a stab wound in her gut, and another teammate, her own sister, sans one arm. Now this? Her own headmaster, and a dear friend of hers, about to be turned to ash as the largest Grim she’s ever seen headed directly at her? It... overwhelmed her. Overburdened her. It felt like her semblance had been activated, but instead of increasing her speed, she could only vibrate faster and faster until... it all went white.

She heard voices in her sleep. Qrow’s. Pyrrha’s. Ozpin’s. Weiss’s. Only a few words at a time, before... now. Her eyes did not open, not all the way. It felt like they had been glued shut, and even now, trying to open them all the way was a fool's effort. A cursory glance around the room showed her she was alone, but it hadn’t been the way for long. A glass sat on the table next to her. Inside it, water and ice, barely melted. A weak hand reached out, pulled it towards her, and while most of it went down her parched throat, a good quarter of it went over her eyes. It did little to help, but it did help. Her head was throbbing, and a second glance at the table next to her caused an annoyed, soft sigh to puff out of her mouth at the sight of two small over-the-counter painkillers. After crunching a bit of ice in her mouth, the sensation causing her to wince from her pulsing headache, she swallowed down the partially liquidized ice with the pills, and sat with her chin on her knees, waiting for it to kick in, which it did faster than she expected.

Now that she could hear more than her own pulse in her ears, certain things caught her attention. Her father’s voice was obvious, but a high, almost shrill voice seemed to be in conflict with him. Down the hall, almost silent, was a low, soft voice. Before she could stand to investigate, a familiar face, drinking from a familiar flask, walked by her open door, and gave a small smile to see her awake. 

“Hey, Kiddo. Been sleeping well?” Qrow closed the door behind him, quietly, before pulling up a chair, not seeming to mind the sound of wood scraping on wood.

“I mean. I guess? I don’t... really remember sleeping. And I woke up feeling empty of... water. How long have I been asleep?” Ruby pulled up the blankets to her shoulders, the fall air giving the room a slight chill. 

Qrow shrugged at the question, pulling out his flask, before sighing and putting it back into his coat. “Almost two full days. A lot has happened, but what do you remember?”

Ruby shivered, but not due to the cold. “Uhm... Penny. Then the Nevermores and Griffons. I took down the ship controlling the robots, and then I found Blake and... Yang! Is Yang okay?” Qrow raised a hand, nodding, and then indicated her to continue. “And... I went to go look for Jaune and Pyrrha. I got a call from Jaune... and I climbed the tower to find Pyrrha and Ozpin being attacked by Cinder. I saw a giant Grim, then.... Everything went... white. Are they alright?”

“Never better, Miss Rose.” Turning her attention away from Qrow, the door to her room had been opened as silently as it had been closed, and standing there, holding a mug with a familiar crest on it, wearing clothes that were far too large for him, a smile on his face and missing his trademark miniature glasses, was Professor Ozpin. “Well, not never better. I seem to have lost my academy, and everything in it, including my personal items-” He pulled at the loose T-Shirt “Which is why I am currently borrowing these from your father.”

“Dammit, Ozpin. I was going to let her sleep some more after she told me what happened.” Ozpin scoffed at Qrow’s scolding, before taking a sip from his mug. “The last thing Miss Rose needs more of is sleep. What she needs is something to eat before she gets skinnier than she already is. What she might want more than she needs is information of what happened after she lost consciousness.”

“Wait, wait!” Both teachers turned their attention to the girl in the bed. “That’s all nice and stuff, but what’s I want and need is to know what I did! What happened? Why did everything go white?” 

Ozpin gave a small smile, and a sigh, before walking over and sitting on Ruby’s bed. “Miss Rose, do you remember the first thing I ever said to you?” Ruby sat with a slightly open, twitching mouth for a second before tentatively saying “That my sweetheart, Crescent Rose, is one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?” Qrow laughed, from his position leaning against the door, making sure no one outside could hear the conversation. “Did you really say that, Ozpin?”

The headmaster coughed, slightly. “I’m not sure if those were my exact words, but yes. What I actually said to you, Ruby, was about these.” Slowly, he lifted a hand, and pointed directly at Ruby, to her confusion. A second later, and she realized what he was really pointing to, and that late night discussion over a year ago rocketed back to her mind. “You said I had silver eyes.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Ozpin’s face, while the humorous one vanished from Qrow’s. “That’s correct. I did not say that to make an awkward icebreaker, Miss Rose. There’s something special about having silver eyes. Your mother, you see, had silver eyes as well.” Qrow seemed to be slowly curling into his own chest, his red eyes almost glowing in the late-afternoon light. “Those with silver eyes are said to be spectacularly skilled at killing Grim. Not just because of their ferocity, or their strength, but something more. This is not mere hearsay or legend, either. As you showed us that night, it’s true.”

Ruby looked down at her hands, flexing them. “But... how? What did I do? How did I do it?” Ozpin gestured to Qrow, who took in a deep breath, and began to speak. “Well, as far as we know, you stopped the Dragon. Not killed. Stopped. Frozen. Literally. Ruby, your semblance. It’s speed, right?” After a nod indicated he was correct, he raised a finger. “Well... maybe not. But yes? But no. It’s control over acceleration, I think. Now. Silver eyes.” He looked up at Ruby, and his expression softened. “Silver eyed beings have something special. They can push their semblance beyond their limits, and even change what the user thought it could do. Say a person had a semblance that was... turning into rock? If that person had silver eyes, and used it, they might be able to find they could create beings of rock to fight for them as well, or change their body into water as well as rock. For you, it’s something similar. You didn’t speed up the dragon. You stole it’s speed. It’s actually not stopped. You just stole it’s acceleration to the point where it looks like it’s stopped.”

Ruby, for the first time, felt like the world was starting to make sense again. Okay. Silver eyes allow you to overclock your semblance. She can understand that. Her mother had them as well, which is why she became a huntress. “So. That happened. What else happened after I fell asleep, though? What about Yang?” Qrow looked to Ozpin, then back to Ruby, while Ozpin did a similar action. “Maybe you can find out for yourself. Grab yourself something from the kitchen. You must be hungry.” Opening the door for her, Ruby stood, unsteadily at first, before finding her balance, and walking out the hallway. Using one hand to help her find equilibrium as she walked down the hall, she happened upon the kitchen, finding her father fighting with a girl with pale hair. So pale it looked white. It was white. 

“Weiss?!” 

He exclamation caused both her father and teammate to spin their heads. After a beat, both dropped their cooking utensils, and rushed in with warm, affectionate hugs. Neither had dry eyes either.

“Ruby, don’t you ever dare do that again. I had one daughter come back armless, another comes back in what’s basically a coma! I’d forbid you from becoming a huntress but you have your mother’s and my blood inside you so I know it wouldn’t do anything, and you’d do it anyway, but I’m so happy you’re okay!”

“Ruby, you wouldn’t wake up and I was so worried but you saved Pyrrha and Professor Ozpin and I was so worried that when that explosion of white light exploded from the top of the tower I had just sent you to your death but you’re okay but I’m disowned I need to tell you more about that but that can come later!”

Since they spoke at the same time, it was a bit difficult for Ruby to discern this as it was being said, but before she could react, her father let her go, running back to the stove where black smoke was flowing out of the pan there, while he was whisper-yelling to himself about the “goddamned eggs”.

Weiss, however, stayed where she was, hugging her team leader, and actual best friend. Ruby was thankful for the physical contact, but she had to push her back a few inches after a minute. “Weiss, what happened? What are you doing here? Did-Did you say disowned?”

The heiress’s smile fell from her face, and tears began to form again, but tears of sadness, as opposed to happiness. 

Soon, both were sitting down at the table while Taiyang cursed at the eggs that had become welded to the pan, scrubbing at it with a bit of steel wool. 

 

“So... your father came for you.” Weiss nodded, before taking a bit of the tuna-salad sandwich in front of her. Hot foods were basically ‘forbidden’ at the moment, so they had to settle for sandwiches. Tuna salad for Weiss, and Ruby’s trademark sliced strawberry and chocolate syrup sandwich. Ruby was shocked at how Weiss didn’t even turn up her nose a little, or roll her eyes at the overly sugary meal. 

“He... wanted me to come home. Said that Beacon had become too dangerous, and he had been too lenient with my freedom. How it had nearly gotten me killed. He demanded I come home immediately.” She took a bite, and sipped a bit of the Chocolate milk Taiyang and poured for her, not wanting to admit how much comfort the sugary drink brought her. “I... I had ignored my father in the past. Or, rather, I had avoided contact with him, but I never actively disobeyed him. Until... then. He said he’d repeat himself once more. I replied in kind. He then... he said that if I did not come with him... if I was resolute in my rebellion, I would be considered unfit for the Schnee inheritance. It was the scariest moment of my life.” As her right hand started to shake, she covered it with her left, and both of Ruby’s hands followed suit. Icy blue eyes stared into silver, and after a calming breath, she was able to continue. “I... refused. For the first time in my life, I stayed strong in my choice. And... he left. I came back here with you, and that night, I received an official statement. I was no longer officially a part of the Schnee family. I had received a minor sum of money. Whether this was from my father, or my mother, I can’t say. But... as of less than two days ago, I am now... no longer a Schnee.” She ran her hand through her hair. “No matter what my looks say.” 

“Minor sum of money,” Taiyang muttered furiously, causing the attention of both girls at the table to turn onto him. “Minor sum, been a hunter for 20 goddamned years, I’d need to be one for another 30 in order to make that minor goddamned sum.” Ruby took into account he was no longer using the steel wool, and had switched to a hammer and chisel. An embarrassed cough came from Weiss. “I... Now that I’m no longer an Heiress, I asked your father to try to teach me how to cook. I don’t seem to be getting the hang of it. You’re also out of eggs.” A light blush made itself evident on Weiss’s face. Ruby squeezed the hands she still had on Weiss’s. “Weiss. It’s okay. You have no idea how long it took me to get the hang of sunny-side-up eggs.” After a few seconds of silence from Weiss, her blush deepened. “I was trying to make hard-boiled eggs.”

A laugh barked itself out of Ruby, before she could control it. An adorable pout found its home on Weiss’s face, which only caused her to devolve into a full laughing fit. As it was ending, Taiyang threw the pan away, before walking over to the table. “And since we are out of eggs, your friends, that team led by that blonde goof, are going out to get some more. The only reason Weiss didn’t go get them is because she wanted to be here for your awakening.” A guffaw from the father, which Weiss absolutely heard Ruby in. “Guess she was right to. But she’s not the only one that’s been waiting.” He placed a platter in front of Ruby. On it was two sandwiches. One roast beef, and cut into triangles, the other a toasted bagel with cream cheese and lox. Both Ruby and Weiss stood, with the team leader carrying the food. While both started to walk towards the hallway, a fatherly finger caught the back of Weiss’s collar, keeping her in the room. “Not you. You have to clean up your soot, flour, and spilled wine.” While she trudged over to the cupboard to grab cleaning supplies, a confused look was shot from Ruby to her father, who simply let loose a ragged sigh. “Maybe she should use that minor sum to eat out every night.”

Even though it took a while for Ruby to notice, she realized that Weiss’s clothing wasn’t... Weiss’s. In fact, Ruby recognized it. It was her’s. It occured to the dark haired girl that with everything that happened, Weiss most likely couldn’t have gotten her clothing from the dorm, nor could she have brought any from home. Ruby... did not mind. Not at all. Looking her up and down, two things came to the forefront of her thoughts. The first was that it wasn’t a bad fit, in terms of sizes. In reality, Ruby wore half a size to a size smaller than Weiss. But, at home, she mostly wore baggy, comfortable clothing, so there was nothing too small for Weiss to wear. The second thing that occurred to her was how Weiss actually looked. She was so used to seeing the former-heiress in immaculately tailored clothing, with expertly done makeup, and hair that took half an hour to do in the bathroom in the morning. But like this? With baggy clothing, barely any makeup at all, and hair that was a rat’s nest compared to Weiss’s usual standards... Ruby felt a bit of warmth creep up her face as she realized that this was a side of Weiss that she wanted to get to know more.

After a short walk, less than 20 steps, she had arrived at a door that had a lovingly carved dragon curling around a sun on it, with a flaming heart later burned into the center of the sun. After a deep breath, and a foot to push the door open, as her hands were full, she found the source of the low, gentle voice she had heard while waking up. 

This time, it was obvious who was wearing whose clothing. Yang wore the largest clothing out of anyone, and while she wore it tight, it was baggy on Blake, who was sitting at her bedside, holding her remaining hand, while Yang laid in bed, a blanket pulled up to her waist. Seeing that empty sleeve, not even fluttering, just still, while the two were deeply engrossed in discussion, it caused Ruby to let lose a single, shuddering sob, while her hands began to shake, making the plates on it rattle. Lavender and golden eyes locked onto her, but colors began to blur as tears filled Ruby’s eyes. She heard Blake rise, taking the platter from her, and sat it down on a nearby table. The moment her hands were free, however, a near running leap happened, and Ruby had both her hand around her older, permanently changed, sister. For a while, the two just hugged, Yang holding her close with her remaining arm, Ruby crying, loud enough to drown out the pleased noise of Blake realizing her sandwich had salmon, causing the ears on her head, now bowless, to twitch. 

“Y-Yang. Y-y-you got-” a stuttering, shaky breath took away her word-making powers for a moment “H-hurt, and I wasn’t there and you-you-you were U-Unconscious and Blake was S-s-stabbed!” 

“Still, Ruby. Still stabbed.” Ruby turned to Blake, who was enjoying her sandwich, while she lifted up the oversized, long sleeve shirt, showing the bandaged midsection. “I got lucky, though. It didn’t hit any intestines, so I wasn’t septic, and not fighting for the past few days means my Aura’s been working full time on it.” Another bite, a small moan of smoked fishy goodness, “So I’m still sore, but getting better quick.” Ruby looked to Yang, who seemed to be fighting to find words. 

“I... I’m going to be okay.” The lavender in her eyes seemed to be tinged with red as she used her left hand to feel the limp sleeve on her right. “I won’t say I am right now, but having Blake here. Having Weiss. You being okay too, Ruby.” She turned back to her little sister, the crimson undertone now gone. “That all helps. Blake and I have already been talking about an Ironwood brand replacement- Yeah, turns out the guy’s a cyborg, Qrow told us- but it might be awhile.” Before Ruby could react, Yang’s arm pulled Ruby into the ample chest there smothering Ruby in a form of affection Ruby was familiar with. “But we’re here. We’re okay. If not now, then soon. Just... we need time. Before I find the fucker that took my arm, and take his.” Ruby looked up, and the bit of red was back, but with a smile beneath it. “But I’ll be the bigger woman and return it to him. Up his A-”

 

A slamming door cause everyone in the room to jump, and in the kitchen too, it seemed, as a shattering dish was heard, causing both a fatherly voice, and the voice of a girl who needed to learn that hard-boiled eggs require water yelled “GOD-DAMMIT” in perfect sync. After a moment of silence, a lovely, sing-song “Sorry!” rang out, a familiar sorry, Ruby realized. A sorry that had been said to so many sparring partners over the years. After forcing Yang’s arm off of her, and running out of the room, Blake and Yang both smiled at the reaction of their leader, before the cat carried the tray over to her. “Need my help?” Yang shook her head, thankful for her father’s cut of the sandwich into quarters, allowing her to eat it easier without it falling apart. “No, no. I need to learn, anyway. Thank you for staying.” Yang said, without looking up from her meal. Blake, in a rush of affection, planted her lips to Yang’s temple, like Blake’s mother used to do, before continuing her own meal. “How could I not. You looked for me. You got hurt for me. I couldn’t just... leave you. I need to learn how not to run. I figured this was a good start.” Although neither one wanted to admit it, both had reddened cheeks at this moment. Maybe it wasn’t that they didn’t want to admit but, but they didn’t need to.

When Ruby turned the corner, and saw both guys and girls of various hair colors and heights removing shoes and jackets, all also wearing clothing that had a familiar edge to it, clothing that she had sworn either she had worn, Yang had worn, or her father had worn at one time or another. When eyes as green as Granny Smith apples had met Ruby’s, Pyrrha, even with her reflexes and battle experiences, was not prepared for the semblance-enhanced tackle hug that had impacted directly into her gut, sending her backwards against a wall. Before she could react to this surprise attack, the crying noises that came from her attacker, and the wet spot that she could feel grow from Ruby’s tears on her shirt caused the gladiator to slowly come to rest on the floor, with the younger huntress in tow. It was hard to discern what exactly was being said, other than various sobbing noises, the words “Save, Okay, Scared,” and “Pyrrha!” Jaune and Nora had a small laugh at the display of affection, while Ren gave his trademarked small smile, the three members of Team JNPR bringing the groceries into the kitchen, a thankful burst of fatherly noise indicating things were beginning to get put away, while Pyrrha took her time, petting the hair of the girl crying into her at that moment.

Things started to wind down after that. Ozpin, Taiyang, and Qrow retired to the kitchen, to both talk and start dinner, while the two teams retired to Yang’s room. Although no one wanted to say it out loud, they all wanted to get used to the sight of her new asymmetry as fast as they could. Ruby and Blake had taken the rest of the bed, the younger leaning against Yang’s right side, eager to show her older sister that nothing had changed between them, while Blake sat at the foot of the bed. On the floor, legs straight out, and pointing towards the door was Weiss, who was constantly aware and in awe of how comfortable pajama bottoms could be. Sitting on various chairs and parts of the floor, not far from them at all, was team JNPR. Something all of team RWBY noticed was how Jaune and Pyrrha weren’t... touching. Or even close. There seemed to be something between them. Something... new. 

“So.” Jaune started, although he regretted it a moment later, as all seven pairs of eyes turned to lock onto him. After a gentle throat clearing, he continued. “Where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean, where do we go?” Blake asked, with a deadpan monotone. “I got stabbed. Yang got...” As she tried to find the words, the blonde haired girl jumped in with a “Disarmed” that even had a bit of joy in it. Her smile grew once she heard groans of pun-induced sickness, as opposed to pity laughs, which would’ve made her feel even worse. “Yes, that. Pyrrha and Ozpin almost died,” Ruby had to notice Pyrrha clench a fist at that, “Ruby apparently has some weird power that killed a dragon,” Closing her eyes as Ruby interrupted with a “Stopped! Not killed, stopped. Or, maybe slowed? You’ll have to ask Uncle Qrow.” After Blake finished massaging the bridge of her nose, she continue. “Stopped, then. What I’m getting at is that we need time. My wound is still weeping. Yang isn’t going anywhere until she gets... a replacement.” She turned guiltily towards Yang, who placed a hand on top of Blake’s which was resting on her thigh. “Not to mention that it’s not our place to decide what’s happening next. I get that you all might be feeling restless, but Beacon wasn’t attacked. It was destroyed. It’s still swarming with Grim. The White Fang, Cinder and her followers, Roman, it was all perfectly organized.” It was time for Blake to clench her own fists. “And if it wasn’t for Ruby, it could’ve been even worse. So why don’t we just... calm down for now?”

For a few seconds, silence had reclaimed the room, before a warm, authoritative voice rang out. “Well, perhaps we can just plan to pass the time, then.” Ozpin, wearing one of Taiyang’s shirts that said ‘Ask me about my vomiting King Taijitus’, strolled into the room. 

“Professor Ozpin!” Pyrrha rose with her exclamation, but was waved back down into sitting by the professor. “Now now, Miss Nikos. I’d rather be involved with any planning before it can go awry, if not apart of the journey itself. But... I feel I must be forthcoming before all of this.” After taking a long drink from his mug, he set it down on the bureau next to the doorway, and let loose a long breath. “I suppose you might be wondering why exactly Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc were with me that night. Why, in the midst of an attack, I pulled away two of Beacon’s most formidable warriors.” While most of the room nodded, Jaune couldn’t suppress his blush.

Ozpin closed his eyes, making peace with himself. “This also connects to why Miss Fall was such a formidable opponent. And... to Dust.” Ozpin held up what he had been subtly holding behind his back, which was his cane. Or, rather, half of it. The handle was intact, but about a third of the way down, the material had been snapped off to a pointed edge. Weiss, who was closest to it, noted something dried on it. The tone instantly told her that it was blood.

“Dust is the origin of humanity’s salvation. Dust comes in many forms. Fire, ice, water, lightning, earth, all kinds.” As he tapped the head of the head of the cane, the gears near the bottom began to spin, while the glass top flickered, and out of it, a projection shone onto the ceiling. A map of the world was presented before them, as he shut off the lights in the room, allowing the image to become clearer. “Some forms of dust are rarer than others, and some are more present in some regions than others.” Several lights appeared around the map. Many appeared in Atlas, of primary colors. In Mistral, only a few appeared, in Vacuo, fewer still. Vale had a good amount, but also had a shining gold color that only appeared in Atlas as well. “Atlas is notably rich in Dust, which accounts for both its military power, and the wealth of the Schnee family.” Before Weiss could notice the tension of her own body, she felt both the hands of Yang and Blake on her shoulders, releasing the wire-tight muscles in her body, the destress coming from their warmth. “While some rarer forms of dust, such as time-manipulation dust, or gravity manipulation dust, can be found there, there is only one form of dust that has only ever been found in two places. Here-” the other lights in Atlas faded to show a single shining dot of gold, “and here.” The lights faded in the other kingdoms, to show a single shining dot in Vale. The same color of gold. “This-” 

“Wait.” Ren rose from his seated position. “I know where that is. That’s Beacon.” He pointed at the dot in Vale. “Yeah, wait.” Weiss rose as well. “And... that... That’s Atlas, isn’t it? I mean, Atlas Academy.” Ozpin gave a proud smile to the intelligence of his students, and after a satisfied nod, both the hunter and the huntress sat back down. “Correct. The placement of those Academies were not randomly chosen, after all.” The picture changed, the gold fading, and the picture fading to black, before a primitively drawn dust crystal was displayed, surrounded by simple figures grasping for it. “This dust is known as ‘The Dust Of Man.’” The crystal in the projection began to shine. “We claim that Dust of no specific type was responsible for our rise out of the dirt, but that is not true. This Dust, the Dust that saved us, is this.” Again, the picture changed, to show a small shard of it in the center of being’s chest. “This Dust is the origin of the Hunters and Huntresses as well.” The Dust began to shine, and it appeared to send chains of electricity all around the being’s body. Ren couldn’t help but notice that Nora’s eyes began to take on a fierce shine. “You see, not all people can implant Dust into their body. The process does not only have a low success rate, but it’s risky as well. However, this Dust has a 100% success rate. It is not without it’s cost, though.” Beings with crystals in their chests were shown fighting away primitive Grim. “While the Dust increases the power of a person’s natural Aura, and also grants them a Semblance, it comes at the cost of their Emotions. Their Humanity.” The beings were shown with swords, assembled like statues, awaiting orders. “They still felt physical needs. Hunger. Exhaustion. Thirst. And more... carnal needs. They knew right from wrong, but love, fear, sadness, regret... all gone. However, due to those carnal needs, something was discovered.” A male and female figure with the Dust crystal in their chests held a baby, with no crystal, but a light in their chest. “Their children had the same abilities as their parents, but could feel. Laugh. Cry. No longer were they reliant on this Dust, as these children were both human, and guardians. However, those in power knew what this dust could bring if it fell into the wrong hands. That’s when the first institution in Vale was built-” A pair of crossed axes was presented. “Beacon. The Beacon of light in the world of darkness. As Hunters became more widespread, a second location where the Dust laid was discovered.” A shield fell, before a spear rose over it. In a hushed tone, Weiss whispered “Atlas.” A nod from Ozpin was the quick response. “Indeed. Now, it should be said that while this Dust granted normal people Semblances and abilities at the cost of their humanity, that’s not all it could do.” A being with a light, but no crystal reached out their hand to a golden shard of Dust. “If one who was a descendant of an original user implanted one into their body, their abilities would drastically increase, still costing them their emotions.” Now, they symbols of both Atlas and Vale presented themselves on both sides of this shard of Dust. “That is... until recently.”

The image flickered into darkness, before Ozpin turned the light back on. “I’m sorry, I didn’t have any more to show you. You’ll have to be satisfied with an old man’s rant instead.” He cleared his throat, unaware that both Taiyang and Qrow had stopped their cooking not long ago to come listen to his lecture. They had both been students of the man too, and as a result, had become accustomed to his voice. “For years, the greatest minds of both Atlas and Beacon have been working on a way to grant power, without the side effects. We made a breakthrough, in the past decade. Atlas made a machine that, with very precise injections, could implant the Dust into a person’s body without killing their emotions. A machine that was stolen in transit. And used by a woman who had already become a Huntress.”

“Cinder.” Ozpin glanced at Ruby, who had let out her name with a Snarl. “Correct. It appears, however, Atlas as not. Correct, that is. It killed emotions. Just not all of them. Happiness. Love. Contentment. These were killed. The rest remained.” Jaune gained a look of confusion, before raising his hand. Ozpin, with an amused look at his face, turned towards Jaune. “Mr. Arc. We are in someone’s home. Not class. You don’t have to raise your hand. I appreciate the respect, however.” Jaune gained a new blush on his face, but lowered his hand. “So... the machine killed off all the good emotions?” 

The professor seemed to roll this question around in his mind. “Not necessarily.” Was the conclusion he came to at the end. “Excitement, satisfaction, amusement, or... perhaps I shouldn’t have said happiness. No, not happiness. Empathy. Happiness from other people’s happiness. That’s what was lost.” He idly twirled the cane in his hand. “But... we did not stop trying. If anything, we tried harder. Cinder Fall was now a force to be reckoned with. We needed someone who could face her. A champion. And when the machine was finally completed, we made our choice.” The pointed end of the broken cane indicated the Gladiator, her eyes flashing with a sort of fear. “When Cinder made her attack, I knew it was the time to use it. I brought Pyrrha to the machine we had prepared, but before the process could begin, Cinder destroyed it, and even obtained some of the prepared dust, increasing her strength further.” Another hand was raised, this time from Nora. “Miss Valkyrie, I already said-”

“I know what you said, but I didn’t know how better to get your attention without throwing Ren at you!” For a second Ren gained a look of shock, before a look of resignment, and acknowledgment that indicated he had accepted that it would indeed be a good way of getting someone’s attention swept over his face. “You said this new machine would’ve worked? You worked out all the bugs and kinks?”

 

As the lapse in conversation grew, the animosity Ozpin felt towards him grow. “Not... exactly.” Deep breath, Ozpin. Might as well tell the truth. “It would not have killed off any emotions. Instead, it would’ve lessened the intensity of all of them. Happiness would still be there, as well as sadness, but perhaps nothing beyond a smile, or a few small tears. It would’ve... dulled them down... perhaps immensely.” 

At once, the entirety of team JNPR rose, with fire in their eyes. All accept, that is, Pyrrha, who turned towards them, and tried to stop them from taking a single step forward. “I knew this! I knew and I accepted anyway!” When the attention of her team was turned onto her, the fire had faded, and was replaced by sadness. While Jaune sat back down, the N and R of the team remained standing. “But... Pyrrha.” The seafoam green eyes began to tear up, tearing Pyrrha’s heart out. “You... wouldn’t... be you, anymore? I mean, I guess you’d still be you...” Ren laid a hand on Pyrrha’s shoulder, and another on Nora’s. “Nora, she would’ve done what she had to in order to keep you safe. If you had to keep her safe, and that was the only option, would you have done it?” When the hammer user finally gave a nod, and immediately after hugged the taller girl, Ren squeezed the crimson haired girl’s shoulder. “That doesn’t mean I’m okay with it. I wish you had talked it over with us. We would’ve let you do it, but it’s the sort of thing I would’ve rather had not been a surprise.” 

Once JNPR had finished their moment, Ozpin let loose a relieved sigh, and felt his stomach begin to grumble, before hearing that exact sound come from the sisters in the room at the same time who gave identical embarrassed smiles. “I suppose I can wrap this up. Cinder destroyed the machine, yes, and took some of the dust into her own body, but it didn’t seem to affect her emotions, perhaps because of how she had some implanted into her own body. I fought against her for as long as I could, but after I attempted to block a blast of fire from her, the action snapped my cane. It sent me flying, and I believe she presumed me dead. After I regained my bearings, my aura barely holding, I managed to climb up the elevator, and used the last of my Aura to block an arrow headed at Pyrrha. Unfortunately, that left my defenseless. Cinder was about to kill us both, but that’s when Miss Rose arrived. I believe she already told you about her eyes?” After nodding around the room was absolute, he continued. “Good. I saw a glow begin to build, and I knew what was going to happen. Admittedly, the dragon smashing into the tower was a surprise. I don’t think even Cinder knew about it, but Miss Rose’s abilities stopped the dragon, and while I was prepared for the flash of light, Miss Fall was not. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Before Cinder could recover I used the only thing I had...” He placed the fingerprint of his index finger to the tip of his broken cane, “And I relieved Miss Fall of her left eye.”

Stunned is the only word for the silence that followed his statement. Even Qrow and Taiyang in the hallway didn’t dare breathe. “With her disabled, I managed to recover the slightest bit of Aura as she fell off the tower, which no longer had any walls. I doubt the fall killed her, but I still had no way of getting you both down.” No indication had to be made to know that he was referring to Pyrrha and Ruby as he continued to stare down at his stained weapon. “That is, until Qrow arrived. He grabbed both of you, one in each arm, and since I had recovered a bit of my strength, I was able to follow.” Turning to Ruby, he began to count off on his fingers. “We then found a ship that had not been taken, which wasn’t lucky, as it was my personal vehicle, so no one should’ve taken it anyway, gathered up your two injured teammates, along with Ren and Nora, found Jaune fighting Grim on his own in the streets of the city, which was abandoned by that point in time, and made our way to Patch. And, now, Miss Rose, The rest of team RWBY, and all of team JNPR, I suppose you can say we are all caught up. Now, may we please have dinner? I’m starving.”


	2. Healing; Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things quiet down. People need sleep. Me included.

Dinner, with so many people, can’t be a quiet affair. Taiyang and Qrow, sensing everyone need a bit of comfort, responded in kind. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and for a side of some veggies, fried okra. It helped that they made all the chicken drumsticks, meaning that a girl with one arm would have no issue eating them. Not much actual discussion happened, but commotion was still had, arguing about where the potatoes were, how much okra was left, how Ozpin appeared to only be drinking coffee for every meal, and how Qrow appeared to be spiking his own potatoes. 

Soon, dinner was finished, with not enough room for desert, save for Ruby and Nora, who had a bar of chocolate each. Hugs were passed around, and promises for tomorrow were made, before Qrow loaded team JNPR into his car (Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha, in that order were in the backseat, with Nora, being ever vigilant, calling shotgun the moment they were within car-door distance) in order to bring them to the local motel for the night. Ruby and Yang’s childhood home was not large by any stretch of the imagination, and since both Blake and Weiss were sleeping there, along with Qrow on the couch, and Ozpin on an air mattress, reservations had to be made. 

For the first time in a while, despite the current situation of his eldest daughter, Taiyang felt... happy. While Yang was always popular at her academy, Ruby tended to be the standoffish one. Never going to birthday parties, or having friends over. It was one of the reason Crescent Rose was so lovingly crafted. When you have nowhere to go, finding something to put all your time and effort into can be a sanity saver. But now, seeing Ruby lay across both her sister’s lap, and the lap of the Faunus girl... what was it.... Blake? Blake. Taiyang never had the talent to remember the names of her daughter’s friends, but this was different. They were more than friends. They put their lives in each other’s hands. So, he’d make an effort. Yang was resting, as she was told to do, listening to Blake read one of her novel’s out loud. While Blake was healing quickly, Yang’s healing outclassed her by far, but not without its tax. Fast healing means draining aura, and while her body was desperately trying to close the wound where her arm was, that meant Yang never had any energy to spare.

But still, Taiyang thought, what a sight to see. Ruby was ignoring Blake's novel completely, instead opting to read X-Ray and Vav, one of the newest issues that Qrow had retrieved for Ruby, while Weiss, initially wary, now engrossed, read through the reprint of the first few of the series, back when X-Ray could only see through things and not fire lasers, and Vav’s name was the Slo-Mo Guy. Occasionally, Weiss would raise her head and ask a question, but, mostly, they sat in relative silence, and just breathed. Although he loathed to admit it, the situation was very familiar. The close contact, the warmth of everyone being in one room, on one bed. He could almost mix and match where each of Team STRQ would be in this diorama. This was the calm after the storm. They had been hurt. Some more than others, yes, but all had been hurt in their own way. This was the time they could, at any time, reach out to their other team members, place their hand on them, and feel their warm skin, their beating heart, and say, yes, you are still alive, but I just had to check for myself. 

After wrapping up the leftovers for tomorrow, making sure they had french-toast sticks for breakfast, in case anyone didn’t want something savory, he headed upstairs, stopping for a second to consider setting a curfew for the girls to be in bed, but thought against it. If they really would be staying up too late, Qrow would slur a few words at them, as he would be downstairs for the night. Upstairs held only a few rooms. A bedroom, a full bath, identical in design to the one downstairs, a large closet, and the workshop which was meant to be the 3rd bedroom. Downstairs held the living room, kitchen, dining room, and both the daughter’s bedrooms. 

Coming into his own room, he accidently stumbled onto Ozpin holding a picture of Summer, one of the few that existed of her without her hood, with a grin so large, teeth could be seen. In one hand, she was holding the hand of a Yang who was gnawing on her own fist, and in the other, cradling a baby Ruby. Summer was smiling at Tai, who had to take the picture before they took another step.

“Reminiscing, Ozpin?” 

The grey-haired man jumped less than an inch, but it was still the most surprised he had ever seen the headmaster. Taiyang, walking over to his dresser, lifted out a more comfortable, baggy shirt that had the words “Certified Creep Hunter” on it, which he won at a competition to see who could slay the most Creeps, which had infested a nearby mine. 236, but one nearly cost him the front half of one of his feet, only barely pulling back in time, but he had to buy a new pair of shoes. 

“I... suppose. I cannot believe it’s been so long that your team was under my tutelage that your own daughters are now under my guidance.” Tai, pulling off his well worn shirt, tossed it into a nearby hamper, and took the moment to examine himself in the mirror. Well crafted but... a bit soft around the edges, he noticed. Was that because a bit of Ruby’s sweet tooth had rubbed off on him over the years, or was it because he had started stress eating a bit since his daughters had gone off to pursue one of the most dangerous careers in existence?

Or was he just getting older?

“Well, that guidance has been temporarily suspended, right? Can’t be a headmaster without an academy, can you?” Slipping on the shirt over his head, he went across the hall to begin to brush his teeth, and, to a small amount of his surprise, Ozpin followed him, clasping the broken cane like a dagger, or, perhaps, a security blanket.

“Taiyang, why is it you have no pictures of Raven?”

The blonde brawler nearly snapped the toothbrush in his fist. “Wow, Ozpin. You always know the exact right thing to say, don’t you?” He couldn’t ignore the fact that in the mirror, he could see a smug expression on the headmaster’s face. After brushing his teeth for a far shorter amount of time than he should’ve, he spit the foamy, minty waste into the sink, before washing his mouth out with a liquid that was far more liquidy, and felt like acid. Washing out the sink of both, he finally was able to respond. “I’ll put it like this. I’ve had two wives. Two mothers of my kids. Both are gone. One by choice. So guess which one I’m not exactly fond of seeing when I get home after a long day of stressfully killing monsters? If you guessed the one that abandoned her daughter, and left a clue that, for some reason, led them to a Beowolf infested cabin, you’d be correct! Congratulations! You win a night on an air mattress.” For a second, back in his room, Tai looked at the covered desk that he knew held a bottle of something brown, flammable, and inebriating, but fought the urge to drown his sorrows. Sitting back down on the bed, he hated how no matter where he tried to sleep on it, he woke up on the right side, making room for someone... two people, who were no longer there. 

“Do you miss one more than the other?”

While he was getting older, that did not mean his emotions had dulled in the least, and before his hand could wrap around Ozpin’s collar, the man said “I’ve had people in my past that I’ve lost as well. So many. Even though I loved all of them, I do find that I miss certain ones more than others. Some I can’t stand to think about, because their disappearance, their funeral, their betrayal hurts too much to think about. I’ve never really... had someone to talk to it about, but, now, I have nothing, so I think it’s time I start dealing with... my past.” 

Sympathy struck Tai’s heart, but he quickly shook it off, as exhaustion overtook him. Instead, he reached into his night-table, and took out a well worn, but immaculately preserved business card. 

“Look, that’s fine and all, and I know how it feels to need to talk about this kinda stuff, okay? But I’m not the one to talk to it. Or, maybe, not the first person you talk about it with. That’s like going to a person wearing a cast about your broken leg. Sure, I can direct you to where you can get it fixed, but I’m not the one to do it for you. Here.” He passed the card to Ozpin, before he returned to his bed. “Look, tomorrow, we need to go shopping. I’ll bring you into town, and introduce you to the therapist I see, alright?” Taiyang, despite the serious tone that was deeply rooted in this conversation, chuckled. “Hey, if you’re a hunter or huntress, and you don’t see a therapist, you’re crazy.”

Ozpin soon after retired to the workshop where his air mattress was set up, and settled down on it, surprised to find it was quite comfortable. In the darkness, he stared up at the ceiling, the moon, while shattered, was full tonight, and illuminated his current room quite well. He wanted to put down his cane, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk being caught unawares, and have to start all over again. Not when there wasn’t even the academy to return to in order to prove he was really himself. Not again. Not again. Not again... Were his last thoughts of the night as Headmaster Ozpin fell asleep, clutching the handle of his cane to his chest.

Downstairs, Ruby, ever both the team leader and team pet, flipped onto her back in order to stick all four limbs in the air and stretch, before falling limp. All of team RWBY knew what this indicated, and began to get up and stretch as well. It was far past midnight, and should’ve started to fall asleep already, but as they couldn’t all sleep in the same room, wanted to wait till the last minute. Blake, of course, would be staying in Yang’s room. Both Blake and Weiss would be using sleeping bags that used to be Ruby’s and Yang’s. Weiss would be sleeping on the floor of Ruby’s room, despite a small argument earlier where Ruby offered her bed, Weiss was steadfast in her refusal. After the team had split into two pairs, one in Ruby’s room, the other in Yang’s, Ruby shut off the light, making sure Weiss had done everything she needed, and laid in bed. Staring at the ceiling. It seemed that waking up in the evening after two days of sleep had, unfortunately, altered her sleep schedule slightly, and although her body felt exhausted, her mind was wide awake. So much swirled around her mind. The fall of Beacon, the fact she almost witnessed the death of two people, her apparent new super power? How Yang had been conspired against, and one of the people who had been in on it had stopped her from reaching...

In the night, she began to tear up. With everything that happened, seeing Penny get cut into pieces, through no fault of Pyrrha’s, she knew. Pyrrha had talked to Ruby about it before dinner, before Ozpin had come in to give them information. Ruby had suspected, anyway. She already knew there was someone who had the ability to create illusions, but it was nice to have that confirmed, anyway, but still. Penny. As tears leaked down her face, recalling her body scattered on the colosseum floor she heard herself let loose a choked sob.

But... no, that wasn’t her, was it? That didn’t come from her. Ruby, leaning over the side of bed, was presented with the opened eyes, and openly crying Weiss Schnee. 

In the half whisper people use when they’re supposed to be asleep and talking to someone else who is also supposed to be asleep, Ruby rasped out “Weiss, is something wrong?” When there was no reply, except from Weiss covering her eyes with her arm, Ruby couldn’t help but once again let out a “Weiss?” A few seconds, and a few body rattling sobs from the former heiress, a response came.

“I... I know I made the right choice. It was. I’m... F-f-free of a man who controlled m-my life and,” She hiccuped “made it torture to do the simplest things that had the s-semblance of” a shuddering breath made Ruby wince. There were few times when she had cried as hard as Weiss was right now, but she knew how hard it as to breathe. “-Of freedom! But now, for the first time in my l-life, nothing is s-sure! I don’t have a home, anymore. I don’t have a f-family! I mean, I might have Winter, but I’m N-No longer a Schnee in anything e-except name! I don’t even H-have an academy to go to anymore.” Another hiccup, and soft, whimper sobs began to leak out again. 

For a second, Ruby didn’t know what to do. She knew how to comfort Weiss when she receives a test score that wasn’t up to her standards, how to assess and dress one of her wounds, even how to calm her down when Weiss’s wrath was turned on her. But this? This sorrowful, deep sadness of an unclear future, after everything’s fallen apart? What could she do?

“Weiss.” The girl with snow white hair got onto her elbows, unsteadily, looking up, seeing Ruby lifting up the edge of the bedspread to her. A light scoff, showing that underneath all that ill fitting clothing and lack of makeup, Weiss Schnee was still there, before she began to scold her. “Ruby, I appreciate the gesture, but I already told you, we’re not switching. And that’s final.” Ruby let out her own, almost shining laugh, before flapping the edge of the blanket like a beckoning hand. “I never said I was going to get down onto the floor.”

Weiss, now understanding, turned slightly red, but didn’t refuse. Shakily, she rose from her barely padded fabric, and nearly visibly decompressed as she sunk into the comfortable mattress. Ruby tossed the blanket back over her, and the two laid, facing each other, for a minute, before the silence is broken.

“This is only for tonight.” Weiss muttered, almost angrily.

“I know.” Ruby said, a true smile on her face, eyes now wiped dry.

“I mean it. How would your father feel?”

“Considering how he married two thirds of the rest of his team, I think he’d understand.”

Weiss turned a darker shade of red, before her own smile emerged, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. While the smile was still on her face, her eyes closed, and within seconds, she was asleep. Exhausted from the emotional strain, and from attempting to use a pickaxe to chip out egg that had been atomically fused to a pan, Ruby supposed.

The warmth from Weiss’s body radiated out, and Ruby found that Weiss’s body heat, in a way, as cool. Instead of warming her up, it reminded her of a cool breeze on a warm day. Eager to feel this pleasant sensation more, she got a bit closer, and a bit more, and a bit more, until their forehead were nearly touching. Without another word, Ruby fell asleep as well, unaware she had laid her hand on Weiss’s, and had passed out clutching it.

In the bedroom next to them, Blake, who had closed her eyes, but had not fallen asleep, opened her eyelids, allowing her golden eyes to glow in the moonlight. In the bed, Yang was sitting up, clutching where her arm was.

“Do you need-” 

“Yeah.”

Blake nodded to Yang’s response, rose from her sleeping bag, and retrieved the heating pad from its place in a small trunk at the foot of Yang’s bed. After plugging it in, she wrapped it around the stump here her arm used to be. In that moment, neither was thinking about Adam. Neither dared. All they were thinking about was Yang’s pain, and how to stop it. As the heat increased, the phantom pain started to fade. Slowly, but it started to fade.

Almost discernibly, Yang nodded, still holding the pad to her stump, and Blake rose.

“Wait.”

Blake turned back to Yang, who had spoken.

“Can you...”

Blake smiled in return. A small smile. Sad. But full of understanding as well. “Of course.”

Ever so gently, she helped slide Yang to the other side of the bed, before Blake herself climbed in, on the same side as Yang’s left hand. After pulling the blanket over both of them, Blake turned onto her right side to face Yang, as Yang remained on her back. As both closed their eyes, Blake's hand finding Yang’s remaining hand, and squeezing it, they fell into deep, dreamless sleeps.

In the living room, Qrow, still awake, lies on the couch. Dressed in a white undershirt, his black pants, and black socks, he stares at the bright screen of his scroll, unable to press the call button under the icon of a black bird. After too long staring at it, he shuts off the screen, and raises his flask. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he whispers to himself, “This is it for the night. Finish your drinks.” With that last finale, he downed his liquor, emptying his flask, and laid his arm over his eyes, drifting into a restless slumber.

Elsewhere, or, rather, a motel that’s half an hour by foot, or a few minutes by car:

“Are you...” Ren started to ask Jaune

“Going to talk about it?” Nora asked Pyrrha.

The boys, in their own room, and the girls, in their own room next door, had stayed up too late checking news on Vale since it’s fall.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Jaune stated, with a finality to it that killed any follow up questions that Ren might’ve had.

“I don’t think... I should.” Pyrrha responded. “This is between me, and Jaune. And with how... I hurt him, I don’t think I should talk about it, in case it does more damage.” After Pyrrha finished changing into her borrowed Pajamas, she laid down in the bed next to Nora’s, and turned towards a wall, as she was unable to face her.

“Look, Pyrr’s, I’m not saying whatever you did to Jaune was right or wrong, whatever it was, but it’s messing with the JNPR Mojo. I know we have time to deal with it, but deal with it. We’d get slau...” Nora stopped herself. Maybe now was the time for good word choice, she realized, “We’d get... beaten, if we went into battle as a team right now. So. Please. For Ren’s sake, for Jaune’s sake, for my sake, figure it out.” As Nora turned in, shutting off the light between them, plunging the room into darkness, and falling asleep, as Pyrrha, unable to sleep, stared at the wall until exhaustion overtook her.

“Jaune. No matter what, we all love you. All of JNPR, okay?”

“Sure.” The light clicked off, and Jaune pulled the comforter over his shoulders, and turned away from Ren, who, for a second, laid back in bed. That is until he went “Wait.” And turned the light back on. “I have to go brush my teeth.” Which he did.

 

Elsewhere: In the still burning wreckage of a massive military ship.

Goddammit.

What was taking her so long?

 

How hard was it to find him, I mean, seriously. He was practically sitting in the world’s largest smoke signal. 

He took another bite of the emergency ration he had in his hand.

At least these protein bars weren’t too bad, and he found enough of them to last another week.

Not to mention, he still had his hat and cane, for what that was worth.

He may have smelled like the wrong side of a Grimm, combined with smoke, gasoline, and a good amount of regular old unwashed human, but he still had his style.

That was when he heard the buzzing of an airship. Looking to the sky, it took a second, but he saw it. No wonder it took so long. She chose something with the aerodynamics of a brick. Of course, he reflected, the only ships that might be left in Vale were the ones used for public transit, and not very good for outrunning Nevermores. But still, better than nothing.

As it got closer, the man waved it down.

“Neo!” He waved his hat as well, and yes, the airship did indeed change it’s pitch to get closer to him. 

Admittedly he wasn’t having the best week. Sure, he had been busted out of Jail, and then gained control of every bit of Atlassian military hardware in Vale, but then he had been eaten by a Grim, and then had said Grim slammed into the bridge of the ship and exploded, but it turned out Grim not only make very good explosion shielding, but also dissolve into smoke soon after death, so maybe his luck was on the upturn.

The airship touched down, and the doors swung open, to show a pair of mismatched eyes, and a bright smile, grinning wickedly at him.

Placing his hat back upon his head, and grabbing his cane by the length, he hopped on. 

“Let’s head somewhere while we wait for the fires to die down. I’ve heard Mistral’s got nice beaches. But let’s get something faster on the way.”

Neo gave a happy blink, switching the colors of her eyes as she shut the door and gained some altitude.

That’s how it’s supposed to go. He was on the rise again. No matter what happened, he’d do what he knew would keep him going.

Lie, cheat, steal-

And survive.

Elsewhere still: In the vacant, abandoned streets of the city of Vale.

There was anger in the air. Loud talking. Yelling. A flash of light, and a pained scream. Out of a dark storefront, comes Emerald Sustrai, limping. On her back, a burn scar, fresh, that she knows for a fact won’t ever heal right.

All she can do is curse herself out. She tried to do what was right. She tried to stay by Cinder’s side, she tried to help her with her eyes, but all she can do is be angry, and hate, and every bit of pain sends her into full blown fury.

Mercury, Mercury was right to leave. The moment he had seen what Cinder had become, he had left. Why didn’t she? Why was she being punished for trying to help her? By trying to help the one person who had offered her a full stomach and a life free of fear? Why was she the one who caused her the most pain out of everyone?

Her back twists in an effort to better adjust her walking pose, but as her skin shifts in kind, the pain turns everything white, and she falls to her knees. In the distance, she can hear Cinder’s screams, and see the flashes of red, blood red fire.

No more. If the world was going to show her the only person she can rely on is herself, she was going to learn that message. 

She would be on her own.

No matter how much that hurt.

She’d keep going.

Until she couldn’t go any further.


	3. Healing; Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Arctic Monkeys news. Hell yes.

Weiss’s fingers felt the fleece of the pair of pajama pants hanging from the rack. They were soft, yes, but something about the pair she had been using for the past few days was so much more comfortable. The design on them, now catching her eye, was a pattern of strawberries. Just the sight of them was enough to bring a small blush to her cheeks, but not enough to feel embarrassed. Yes, she had woken up in Ruby’s arms, and initially considered struggling out of them as fast as possible and return to her sleeping bag, but... didn’t. She quite enjoyed the feel, if she as being honest with herself. 

She sighed as she let the fleece slip through her fingers, which she now focused on. Each print said “Schnee”, even if that was no longer true. Day three of the rest of her life. Things had... started to change in her. Before, it was all about representing the Schnee family and worrying about how to run the company when she got older, and this and that but now... now that she no longer had to care about her image... she found things in her... loosening.

When she had brought Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Jaune to the nearest major department store in order to go shopping for a new wardrobe, while Ruby and Yang, who had their own clothing, stayed at home, Weiss’s first thoughts had been how low class it all was, how there would be nothing here that fit her like her dresses would’ve. 

But... as she browsed the racks and shelves... she remembered how much Ruby liked baggy clothing to relax in. Yang too. So, her eyes drifted from the tight, form fitting evening gowns that would’ve been everyday wear for her, to something... Softer. T-shirts. Sweaters. Pants.

“Everything alright?” 

A voice, surprising, caused her to turn. Taiyang. Right. She had been so engrossed in thought she forgot that Taiyang Xiao Long had brought her and Blake, while Qrow drove team JNPR. Nora, once again, calling Shotgun once they had been in an appropriate area, not before, like in the house, which Jaune had tried to do. Unfortunately, neither Blake nor Weiss had been able to call shotgun, as the passenger seat belonged to Ozpin himself.

“Yes, just... paralyzed by choice, it seems.” For a second, she thumbed through dress shirts on a rack, each one reminding her of a different social event where she considered stabbing herself with the butter knife that had been placed in front of her in order to get out of it. “In the past, I was measured, and clothes were made for me, in accordance with my father’s wishes, and the rest of the family’s clothing as well, so we’d always-” She stopped on a dress shirt/vest combo with a familiar snowflake on it. One with a price tag nearly three times the price of the others, that she knew would be branded with the Schnee name. “Match. So we’d always match.”

She was unsure if Ruby’s father could see the emotional turmoil she was currently experiencing, or if he was oblivious to it. Either way, he thumbed through a nearby rack as well, before pulling out a button up shirt, and held it up to his chest, turning with a big, toothy smile to her. 

It was a yellow. Garishly so. The same yellow children would draw the sun with. The same color she never used when painting snowscapes and mountains, per her tutor’s orders. She tried to imagine her father... No, imagine Jacques Schnee in such a shirt, but when she tried to, it was like her thoughts went to static. Some things, she realized, didn’t even exist in dreams. But on Tai, it was... perfect. It matched him to a T. Of course someone with his name would match colors with the sun. She tried to imagine Yang in the same outfit, and of course, it was easy as could be. However, in her imagination, one sleeve suddenly fluttered empty, and she was brought back to reality, a concerned expression now on Tai’s face.

“Oh, right. It’s a good match for you. If you’d like, I’ll purchase it for you.” Tai went through as series of expressions in a matter of seconds. Shock, irritation, amusement, and, just a flash, but slow enough Weiss could recognize it, sadness. “Look, Weiss, I’m a big boy. I can buy my own clothing, thank you very much.” He rehung it on the rack. “Honestly, I have three copies of that exact shirt at home. It’s becoming a problem.” He watched her for a while, following her not far behind, as she browsed the clothes, occasionally taking one off the rack, feeling it, examining the size, holding it in her hands, before placing it back. Tai knew he should’ve felt annoyed, but instead, it felt... sad. Like a kid who had been going hungry not being able to choose what candy they wanted. “You know... you could probably buy the store itself, and have money left over, right?”

Weiss turned towards him, with wider eyes than he expected. Maybe she had gotten so lost in thought she had forgotten his existence. “I... Perhaps. But that would not be a responsible use of my sum. I had been looking into investors while Ruby was unconscious, something to keep my mind off of her state, and off my... situation, but it appears that with the end of being a Schnee, it also means the end of every connection you had as a Schnee as well.” With a bit of finality, she gives a weak kick at an empty chair used for the partners of hardcore shoppers. “And I let those trust fund.... Shits. Flirt with me for nothing now.” A huff of hot air, and she sat down in the very chair she just abused.

Tai came closer, just a enough to lay a hand on her shoulder, the very action making her leap six inches out of her chair. Everything she did, no, every reaction she gave. It made a pit in his stomach grow a few more inches. She wasn’t raised. She was trained. She wasn’t given fatherly advice, or motherly intuition. She was given orders, and neglected. And now, she didn’t even have the bare minimum, he considered how odd it was to say that a multi-billion Lien company was the bare minimum, that was owed to her. “Hey now. For what it’s worth, I bet those guys felt like they flirted for you for nothing as well!” 

A laugh, not quite joyless, echoed out of Weiss, who gently removed Tai’s hand off her shoulder so that she could stand. “Yeah. Like any guy was getting anywhere with this, anyway.” Tai laughed as well. “Yeah, I feel the same way for any guy that tried to flirt with Ruby. Come on, let’s get you some clothing.” Before Weiss, who felt heat creeping up her neck had the chance to ask him to clarify, Tai had already found a shelf filled with nothing but Novelty T-Shirts. Weiss ended up buying him seven of them. Tai screamed in anguish when he got home, finding he owned copies of four already.

Team JNPR was quiet. None of them were in exactly happy positions. Ren and Nora were reminded of their lack of family when they had no one to send them new clothing. Jaune hadn’t been in contact with his family since he came to Beacon, apparently out of spite, as they didn’t believe he could make it. Pyrrha’s home life was somewhat of a mystery, but as she called the friendship she had with them the “First meaningful relationship” she had ever experienced, it could be assumed that JNPR’s home life, as a whole, was nothing to write home about, either by choice, or by circumstance.

That’s why the current divide between Jaune and Pyrrha caused such an uncomfortable gap in their lives. Unfortunately, the only people who knew why, or what caused it, were the two people who seemed to be having an issue with talking at the present moment. That’s why, finally tired of this after 3 days, Nora took the initiative, and pushed Pyrrha physically at Jaune, with the ultimatum that if they didn’t talk, at least a little bit, Nora was going to take it upon herself to hide grenades (smoke, not explosion) in things Pyrrha will use throughout the day, until she talks to him. She did not take this as an idle threat, as halfway through their second semester last year, the same ultimatum was made, and Nora hid grenades in, but not limited to, Pyrrha’s dresser, locker, dessert, mouthwash, and ponytail.

“Jaune, can we... talk?”

Blue eyes. Not like Weiss’s, but dark blue. Blue like the bottom of the ocean swiveled to look at her, but there was no happiness on his face. His carriage had a good amount of clothing in it, all practical, and comfortable. Even some things, it seemed, to train in. “What about.”

Pyrrha, not for the first time, felt a stab of frustration with the boy in front of her. “You know what about, Jaune. This rift between us, this rift-”

“That you caused, you mean.”

Pyrrha’s mouth shut with nearly an audible click. Ren and Nora, who were hiding in a nearby spinning clothing rack, had their eyes go wide.

“I-I suppose, yes, you could say that I...”

“The rift you caused by relentlessly chasing after me, sending me hint after hint that you wanted to date me, and when I finally got it, finally it broke through” another pair of pants, jeans it seemed, into the carriage “You threw me into a wall. Not that I mind that, though. I understand that. You asked me a serious question that I did not take seriously, that could’ve cost you your emotions, and you were in turmoil. It was a hard day that turned into a hard night, with a lot of complicated emotions. Emotions like the shock and happiness I felt when you took my first kiss, and then shoved me into a rocket locker.” Pyrrha swallowed, happy no one else was hearing this, as far as she knew.

“And then, after you barely survived with your life, and after we got to safety, and I tried to kiss you back, you stopped me, saying something occurred to you during your fight with Cinder.” He thumbed a tag, examining the price, before pushing it back into place. Weiss had offered to pay for everything, but that didn’t mean he was going to have her break the bank. Honestly, since everything that’s happened, he feels like he did short of actually harassing her. If anything, he owes her cash for what he’s put her through. “And apparently what occured to you is that you weren’t in love with me. No, apparently, you didn’t even have a crush on me. What you liked is that I was someone who wasn’t starstruck by you, and, because of that, you liked the fucking IDEA of me.” A plastic hanger cracks in his hand, and he looks down at it in an indiscernible way. Pyrrha is not one to fear any opponent, anyone at all, let alone Jaune, but right now, she catches her own reflection in the mirror, and is reminded of an animal hiding in a corner.

“I’m not saying... your feelings are wrong. I’m also not saying that you’re a bad person. But I don’t think the signals you sent out could be any more mixed.” After handing the broken hanger to a retail worker, he took the sweatshirt that had been hanging on it, and placed it in his carriage with a feeling of finality. “And I don’t think... I can get over this in a day, or a week. I need to think things out, and talk it out with myself. I just...” 

When Jaune looked at her, she could understand why people said the eyes were the windows to the soul. Confusion, conflict, anger, and sadness, all mixed in the ocean blue she once found so entrancing. 

“I need time, Pyrrha. Just... for now, I need time.”

Pyrrha didn’t know what else to say. There.... Wasn’t anything else to say, was there? Instead, she lifted a red hoodie, almost frightened to see it was emblazoned with the same white rabbit that was always beneath Jaune’s breastplate. Placing it back, she wandered off, to build her own wardrobe, leaving the boy to his thoughts.

 

“So. Here’s your half of the list, and here’s mine.” 

Qrow handed the torn list to Blake Belladonna, still sporting a brightly colored ensemble, much to Qrow’s confusion. 

“So, uh. Are you sure you didn’t want to go shopping with everyone else? I could’ve done this on my own.” Blake, ears twitching in thought, shook her head in dismissal. “It’s fine. Yang has a closet so packed full of clothing, I could wear a different outfit every day for months, and not have to do laundry.” A quick glance up from her list at Qrow, and a puff of breath comes out of her nose. “I’m going to do laundry anyway, though.” She checked the back of the list, before stuffing it into her pocket. “I just had to make sure you didn’t get the cheap things for the food that matters.”

“What, like the five different kinds of raw fish you put on that list when you thought no one was looking?” A bit of red washed over her cheeks, before she grabbed a basket for herself. “Weiss and Pyrrha like fish too, okay?” As she began to speed walk away, Qrow managed to get out one last bit of banter. “Well, make sure they actually get some before we find the skeleton picked clean like a goddamned cartoon!”

After she turned the corner, and was out of sight, Qrow let his hands rest on his knees, as he let out a slow breath. How could he get so winded by doing absolutely nothing? He fought Grim for a living. He could leap fifty feet in the air, weilding a gigantic scythe. Why did the littlest things out of battle knock the wind out of him, these days?

Flour, got it. Ginger-ale. Got it. Eggs, checked for cracks, and placed in the carriage. Aisle after aisle. Once or twice, he caught Blake lingering on cans, or veggies, and, of course, the fish counter. Finally, he stopped, pulling out a plastic jar, emblazoned with the words “Peanut Butter”. On it, a peanut with simple arms and legs was dancing. He spun the jar in his hands. On the back, it listed some nutrition facts, which he avoided looking at, for the sake of being able to plead ignorance, before glancing at the shelf again. Same brand, same price, but a different color lid and wrapper. 

Oh no. He reached out, and plucked it from its resting place, seeing what the difference was. Crunchy. Crunchy? Why choose red for crunchy but blue for, yes, he spun the first jar around again, and confirmed that the first one was indeed creamy. Before he could make a choice, he saw a green one. Almost angrily, he moved both jars to one arm, before grabbing the green one. All Natural? Wait. He glanced to the other two. What made the other ones unnatural? What was the weird oil on top of the green one? Why did the other two not have it? Looking down the shelf, he saw that a different brand had “Super Crunchy.” Wait, what? What? What made the crunchy peanut butter in his hands not “Super”? Was it a declaration of taste, or was there peanuts still in shells in that jar? Slipping the third jar into his arm, struggling to not let the smooth plastic slip, he spied another brand that said “Now with Lower Sodium!” 

He was going to blow up the store. Why? Why less sodium? Wasn’t sodium salt? Wasn’t peanut butter supposed to be salty? Was this peanut butter unsalty? How much sodium is too much sodium? How much is not enough? Salt’s in blood right? That means it’s important, doesn’t it? Why the hell did that jar have both peanut butter and jelly in it? Does that say Honey peanut butter? What the hell is that ringing?

With a growl, he tossed the fourth jar onto the other three, balancing them almost like a circus act, before wrenching the scroll out of his pants, hitting the answer button, and if he wasn’t on the verge of purposefully smashing every jar of peanut-based product in the store, he would’ve felt embarrassed with the volume of how he yelled “Hello?!”

“Ow. How’s my daughter?”

The anger in Qrow’s blood turned from red hot, to icy cold. “Raven. How nice of you to call. I’m kinda in the middle of something right now, so if you could fuck off, that’d be just great.”

“Qrow, I saw what happened. How is Yang.” Even through the scroll, Qrow could tell that his sister wasn’t in the best of emotional states, and was also not the most stable right now. Although he loathed to admit it, this small mental breakdown was not solely caused by the peanut butter. Everything in the past few days. The fall of Beacon, the attack of the Grim, watching Ironwood get shot out of the sky, seeing one niece sans an arm, the other one comatose, it seemed to be falling in right now. Not the straw that broke the camel’s back, but the peanut that choked the elephant, whose corpse seems to be falling right on top of Qrow.

“Well, I’d say she’s alright, but considering she lost an arm on that side, I feel like it’d be in bad taste.” He put back two of the peanut butters, instead taking one of the creamy, and one of the crunchy, allowing base instincts to guide him through this time while he did nothing but listen to his sister’s heavy breathing on the line. 

“You’re... you’re not kidding, are you?” While rage had been building in Qrow as he had walked through this store, hearing tears in her voice brought him back to reality. That, and a quick swig from a flask, which earned him a dirty look from a passing woman with a child in her cart that he pretended not to notice. “Raven, I get that I have a sense of humor so dark, it matches our hair, but no, I’m not kidding. She’s... at home right now, with Ruby. Resting up, healing, all of it. She’s been tired, but that’s her aura working overtime.” Light whimpers, barely audible, came over the phone. The very sound of it began to slowly shatter Qrow’s heart. He knew that sound. That was the same sound Yang made when she had woken up at home, and realized what had happened to her. Branwens, even half-ones, didn’t like to cry. But, sometimes, tears forced their way out instead.

“Raven-”

“No!”

 

Qrow jerked the receiver away from his ear, before slowly bringing it back. Crying still filled the noise, but words soon made their way through as well. “I-I should’ve been there for her. Even now, I should be there for her. I couldn’t! I thought I could do it, I loved Tai, and when I found out I was pregnant, I was so happy, but as time went on, I just... I saw Grim around every corner, and I saw them in myself, and I knew I’d hurt them, and I even wanted to, but I had to leave, I had to. I would’ve hurt them more by staying.” He pulled out his flask from the pocket inside his jacket, and let the liquid in it slosh from side to side. Sometimes, that’s all he needed to calm down. To know that he had it if he needed it. “I know, Raven. I know.” For a second, the crying continued before it subsided, replaced with a heavy, low version of her sister’s voice, thick with sadness.

“The... the other one. Summer’s kid. How is she?” 

Although his anger had dissipated, an ember still remained. “Her name is Ruby. And, since it’s been that long since we actually talked, she got into Beacon as well, and she’s even the leader of Yang’s team.”

A laugh of derision flowed out of the speaker, and a stab of self hatred struck him in the back when he realized he probably had the same one, albeit a few octaves lower. “I knew all that, Qrow. I watched the Vytal festival, just like everyone else. You taught her well. I see Summer in every aspect of her, except her fighting. In that, I see you, Qrow. Every scythe swing, every bullet fired, even in stance, I see your influence.”

The two twins stood, in exactly the same saddened stance. Back straight, but looking downwards, at nothing, even though they were nowhere near each other. “Why didn’t you teach her the weapons her mother used?”

A small sigh from Qrow, this time. “Because it was either teach her something I knew, and give her the strength to fight those Grim on the way to and from her mother’s grave, or try to teach her something I didn’t know, and have to face the irony of retrieving a daughter’s corpse on the same path you take to visit her mother’s corpse.”

More silence. Sometimes, there was nothing left to be said. “Call more often, Raven, will ya? This old bird gets tired.”

A small laugh from the other line. “We’re twins, so I guess that makes me one too. And... I might. No promises.”

Picking up his basket again, he felt something pop in his back, but in a good way. “Never knew you as the type to make ‘em.”

Hitting the ‘end call’, he turned to find Blake, carriage full of things that were certainly not on the list, walking towards him.

“What’s all this?” Gracefully, Blake pointed to each individual items. There were some things for Weiss, like hollandaise sauce, some things to make cooking easier, and some cheap hair-care products that still got good reviews, some for Ruby, like painkillers for her lingering headache, chocolate chip cookies with strawberry jelly inside, and the newest issue of “Weapons Quarterly”, but nearly everything else in the cart, from the meats, to the special utensils, to the snacks, it was all for Yang. Qrow stopped listening to what Blake was saying, and in that moment, understood. Raven may have abandoned Yang, but that didn’t mean she was alone. Even if she were to lose all her family, she would still have people that would take care of her. People who would protect her. Love her, even.

“And I got her Pitas, so that she can have sandwiches that she can eat without them falling apart.” Looking up, Qrow noticed she suddenly made a face of... both confusion, and discomfort. “Something wrong, Kid?”

Blake, gave a small shiver. “I don’t... think I’ve ever seen you with a smile that big on your face without you being drunk. I mean, I’ve only known you for less than a week, total, but still.”

Qrow, half-aware, touched his own face, and found that he was, indeed grinning. “Yeah, well, it’s your fault for thinking I’m not drunk. Now, before we get to the register, I’m not saying don’t get it, I just wanna know how much fish you got.”

“Enough.”

“What the hell do you mean, enough? How much is enough?”

“Enough. I got enough fish.”

“Yeah, alright. I’m going to guess you mean enough to last between shopping trips, which won’t be for another few weeks.”

That was when Blake stopped walking, and before Qrow could ask, she had ran back to the counter, grabbing a few more whole ones.

Even then, Qrow couldn’t find it in himself to curse her out for getting so much. To himself, he whispered, so softly no one could hear him; “consider it an investment.”

 

“Mr....-”

“Goodwitch.”

Sterling Luizzo was not an idiot. He thought that the man sitting in front of him should know.

“I’m not an Idiot. I hope you know that.”

The man, who he knew was far more powerful than him, shrank down in his chair, giving a meek nod. 

“I... understand that. But... please. I’d rather not use my real name.”

Dr. Sterling Luizzo sighed. Yes, he had seen clients before that had been paranoid, and believed that they had enemies lurking in every corner, but now, he reflected, he was talking with someone who might actually have that in his life.

“Alright. Alright. So, what would you like to go by, then, Mr. Goodwitch?”

Ozpin, shifting in his seat, comfortable as it was, couldn’t allow himself to relax. Deep breaths. Keep taking deep breaths. 

“Oswald. For now, Oswald Goodwitch.” 

Dr. Luizzo, satisfied with this as a jumping off point, picked up his tablet, and opened a file under that name. “Very well, Oswald. Why have you come to see me today? You told me you were referred by one of my long-time patients.”

“Yes, Taiyang Xiao-Long. A student, turned hunter, turned... well, if not a friend, then someone I can trust, at the very least. I’m... sorry. I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit, well, awkward. This is my first therapy session, and I don’t know what quite to say. To talk about.”

Adjusting the glasses balanced on top his nose, Luizzo, for now, put his tablet to sleep, before setting it down, and crossing his legs, folding his hands, and adopting a more relaxed way of sitting. 

“I can understand that. Many, many first time patients are surprised that with all the things in their mind, they have some issue knowing what to talk about. How about this? You can tell me what exactly caused you to come to therapy in the first place. That way, I can learn some information on you, and you can practice speaking about your problems.”

Ozpin was not in his comfort zone. He was in the opposite of his comfort zone. He was in his discomfort zone. He was used to being the professional. The one with all the cards. The one sitting behind a desk, with the tablet, ready to make grand statements. But now? He felt vulnerable. Naked, in a way. It didn’t help that his own pair of glasses, that were destroyed during the fight with Cinder, were hand crafted by an artisan glasses store in Vale, now abandoned, maybe even destroyed, and so he didn’t even have that thin wall to put between himself and others.

“Well, would you like to know why I was referred, or why I decided to accept that referral? Because those are two different experiences, despite the fact they happened so close together.”

Sterling Luizzo, templed his fingers, and after a bit of deliberation in his mind, spread his hands. “How about the first, then the second. We don’t have a full hour, but I do have time before my next appointment, and then we can make an appointment for a full appointment next week. How about that?”

Okay. Yes, once a week. He can do that. “Alright, well. I was referred last night by Taiyang. I’m someone who’s quite a bit older than I look,”

“I’m sure,” quipped Luizzo, with a small, friendly smile, clearly amused at his own joke.

After taking it as a sign to relax, he did his best to fill his lungs before continuing. “I’m... far older, actually. I. I can talk about anything in here, correct?” As Luizzo nodded, Ozpin let loose a laugh. One he didn’t even know he could make. A laugh of stress, of risk, and of jumping in without knowing how deep the water is. “I... have a semblance. A rare one. One I’ve never heard of anyone else having.” He felt his body begin to vibrate from sheer anxiety and fear of how this person he has already decided to confide in might react. “This semblance has granted me a form of immortality. Whenever I... die. I’ve died. Whenever I die, I don’t... pass on, or just... stop. My mind appears in another person’s body. Slowly, I... I overtake them. This body-” He pulled at the collar of his shirt, “Isn’t mine. It was a boy’s. I believe he wasn’t even a teenager yet. And I-” Another one of those laughs, as he felt water run down the side of his face. A tear? Was he crying? “I can’t control it. I can’t stop this parasitic reincarnation, no matter how much I want to. And I’ve... left behind so many people. People I can’t return to and claim I am the man they once knew. I miss so many people. People that have come after me, not recognizing who I had become, people I’ve had to kill. People I’ve had to bury. The one place I could’ve always gone back to is Beacon, and now, even that is gone! I have... nothing!”

That’s when he realized the man in the larger chair was offering him a box of tissues, which he gladly took, and began to, with an air of embarrassment, wipe his face. While he did, Sterling Luizzo coughed, and leaned back in his chair.

“Your metaphors are quite... colorful, Oswald.” A small wink to the headmaster caused a flood of relief to flood Ozpin’s body. “But what I’m hearing is that you’re someone who’s experienced quite a lot of loss, and have done things that have hurt other people against your intentions, heck, against your own actions, and you blame yourself for all of it. Am I getting this right?”

Clutching the tissue box like a ball between his hands, he couldn’t help but feel the cane in the makeshift leather holster Tai had given him before they left. “Basically, I suppose. I came forward to Tai about my loss, and he said he had enough to deal with on his own, so he referred me to you.”

Luizzo nodded at the man’s words, but raised a finger. “Alright, so that’s the referral. What made you want to come talk about it?”

Ozpin, finally, gave a small smile. “That was this morning. I was... given a task.” He recalled Qrow telling him to go see if the girls were up. It was still early morning, and Tai hadn’t even gotten up yet. Ever so gently, he opened the door to Ruby’s room, and saw her forehead pressed against Weiss’s, their limbs entangled, the most peaceful look on both their faces. “I suppose I saw something that... didn’t remind me of my loss, but instead reminded me of why that loss hurts so much.” Checking on the black and yellow duo, he happened upon a similar scene. The blanket had been pushed down to their hips, but due to that, he could see just how much closer they were. Yang used her remaining arm to pull Blake flat against her as if the faunus girl was a stuffed animal. Instead of attempting to push away from her, Blake had instead wrapped her arms around the girls back. Quietly, he shut their door as well, and said that no, none of them were awake, but they deserved to sleep. “The reason it hurts so much is that I... had connections. I felt that love. I had people I wanted to fall asleep next to, and wake up with. I had people I wanted to die with, holding their hand, either in bed, or on a battlefield. And... I believe... I want that again. And, in my current state, the walls I’ve built around myself are far too high and thick for any normal person to get through them. So, that’s when I decided officially to attempt therapy.”

Luizzo, Ozpin realized, had a look of amusement on his face. “Did someone, on their way here, mayhaps glance at an article or two about blocking out other people?” 

Ozpin gave a sly, but also amused grin. “Do you blame me for trying to do my research?”

A wave off in return, and the tablet was powered back on. “I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today. I do wish we could’ve gone longer, but you did, in fact, come in during the hour, and not at the hour. But, I’d be happy to schedule you in for next week. Is this day and time good for you?”

Glancing at the tablet, Ozpin gave a solid, single nod, and shook his hand, before leaving the office, and strolling down the street towards the store he knew most of his students were. And, barely in a conscious way, the fact he took this first step, despite his emotional exhaustion, made all the colors in the autumn air, the reds, the yellows, the oranges, they all seemed just the tiniest bit brighter.

 

“Hey Yang?”

“Yeah, Ruby?”

“Did Blake sleep in your bed?”

“Yeah.”

“...Weiss slept in mine.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Probably the same you feel about Blake sleeping in your bed.”

There was a gap in the conversation. Ruby had leaped onto Yang’s bed, and together, the two had been watching an episode of an old show on Ruby’s scroll, projecting onto Yang’s ceiling. Ruby on Yang’s right, she had a plate of cookies next to her. On Yang’s left, a plate of beef jerky with a side of floss picks. Both girls gained a bit of red in their faces.

“I think we’re... gonna be alright.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

They scooted a bit closer together. Outside a cold wind blew, bringing a chill of winter to the small island of Patch.


End file.
